


Upon the Gloaming

by Erulisse17



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Curse Breaking, Dryad AU, F/M, Ghillie Dhu, Magic Realism, Mythology - Freeform, Samhain, fairy tale AU, set in Scotland
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:09:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27317542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erulisse17/pseuds/Erulisse17
Summary: "There is an old tale of the Ghillie Dhu, a lonely fairy, deep in the Scottish Highlands. How he came to be there, no one knows. Perhaps the tree was blessed with life, or a man cursed with undeath, but it is said he lives in the heart of a great birch. Wild is he, yet timid and caring. They say if ye look carefully, upon the Samhain gloaming, when the veil is thin, and he wants to be found, ye'll find the forest spirit guarding his home deep in the widdland."orWhen Rey is called to investigate a strange disease infecting an ancient tree in the north of Scotland, she discovers far more about fairies, curses, and love than she ever expected.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 10
Kudos: 26
Collections: Fall Fic Exchange 2020





	Upon the Gloaming

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Biekewieke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Biekewieke/gifts).



“This is so. Gorgeous!” Rose exclaimed, face pressed against the train’s window to take in the rolling green hills wreathed in fog.

Rey laughed. “I’d say I’m used to it by now, but I’m really not.”

“If I knew researching tree rot meant living in Scotland, I’d have switched majors back in college,” her friend said with a wink.

“My research is not about tree rot, it’s about the shelf fungi and its growth and uses throughout—”

“Rey, I’m sure you think you’re making it sound better, but you’re not.”

After shooting the small Asian girl a mock glare, Rey checked her phone then sighed heavily.

“What’s up?”

“Oh, just my boss wondering when I’m coming in, as if I haven’t sent him three separate emails with my ETA.”

“Ah, the infamous Hux.”

“You mean the infamous pain the arse? Yes, him.”

“Is he coming with us to the problem tree?”

“Nah. He’s in Inverness, so we’ll meet up with him at the office tonight, then rent a car to take to Gairloch tomorrow morning.”

Rose shook her head. “Gairloch. What a weird name.”

Raising an eyebrow at her friend, Rey teased, “We could always stop by Dingwall on the way.”

Rose let out a loud snort, made worse as Rey continued, “Or swing through Easter Kinkwell. North to Bonar Bridge? Pop up to Badcall?”

By the time the train pulled into Inverness, Rey had exhausted her knowledge of odd Scottish towns and Rose was fully in stitches.

As they walked into the Scottish Forestry office, Hux nearly burst down his own door to shout at them. “There you are! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you?”

“Since I told you exactly when our train would get in and you also know it’s a ten minute walk from the station, I assume not long?”

The redhead shot her a dark glare while Rose tried to stifle a snort of amusement. 

“The Solo estate is one of the oldest and most esteemed in the country. The historical significance of their woods cannot be overstated.”

Rey mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like “Are you sure?”, which was ignored as Hux continued to expound on how old and important the Solo family and the trees on their property were and how imperative it was for Rey to get out there and find out why one of these super historical trees was suffering from some kind of rot.

By the time they escaped, it was well into the night, so they grabbed some take away and swung by a chip shop on the way to their hotel. As they munched on cheese-smothered fries, Rey flipped through the hotel’s channels and said, “Sorry for Hux, by the way. I’d say he was in a bad mood, but that’s actually just how he always is.”

Rose waved a hand dismissively. “No worries. He probably thinks he can get away with it because he’s cute.”

Her brain screeching to a halt, Rey slowly turned toward her friend. “I’m sorry, I must have misheard. Did you just say you think my boss is cute?”

“...No?”

“Ewww! Gross! That’s in my brain now!”

“I’m just saying!”

“I know you’re just saying, I just can’t believe what you’re saying!”

Rose stuck out her tongue and whacked Rey with a pillow, causing a pillow fight that eventually ended with Rey conceding defeat and also a very early wake-up time.

The next morning, they rented a car and drove northwest through the foggy green wilds of Scotland until they got to Gairloch, a small village on the coast. Checking into their hotel and dropping off their luggage, Rey smiled to see all sorts of spiderwebs, ghosts, and other decorations around the town, including carved pumpkins and…

“Are those… turnips? Did someone seriously carve a face into a turnip?” Rose asked, canting her head in confusion.

Rey laughed. “Scottish tradition. They believe big bonfires keep evil spirits away, so they have bonfires and lanterns made from pumpkins and ‘neeps’.”

“Aye lass,” the tiny receptionist behind the counter agreed, wide owlish eyes blinking behind huge glasses. “Must be ready for Samhain.”

“For…” Rose started, then leaned toward Rey. “Is that Scottish for Halloween?”

“Et’s the Celtic new year!” The older woman called, her hearing clearly unaffected by age. “When dead spirits roam and the  _ Aos Si _ pass into our world.”

“ _ Aos Si _ , or  _ sith _ , is the Gaelic term for faeries,” Rey whispered, then turned to the receptionist whose name tag read ‘Maz’. “We’re just dropping our luggage off now, but we’ll be back tonight.”

“Off to see the sights, are ye?”

“I am, she’s on official forestry business,” Rose answered with a smile.

Maz’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh? Where to?”

“The Solo Estate, near Loch a Druing.”

“Ah,” her brown eyes sparkled mischievously. “Looking for the ghillie dhu, are ye?”

Automatically designating Rey as her translator, Rose turned to her with an expectant look. This time, Rey also seemed puzzled. “The what?”

“The ghillie dhu. He lives in the birch wood, with dark, wild hair, dressed in leaves and moss. He’s been the protector of the woods for nigh on two centuries.”

“Oh. Well, if we see him, we’ll tell him you say hi.”

Maz smirked a little. “Ye do that.”

They drove into the highlands, the low fog rolling over the green hills as the road grew smaller and the trees grew thicker, surrounding them with the cool aura of autumn. Pulling down a dirt road, Rey and Rose finally stopped in front of a huge, vine-covered estate.

“This is straight out of a movie!” Rose hissed in wonder as they got out of the car.

“Or a dream,” Rey murmured, looking around as she shouldered her kit.

A low grunt caused both of them to spin and stare at the large, bearded man raising an arm in greeting.

“Hello, I’m from the Forestry office. Are you Mr. Chewbacca? The groundskeeper?”

The man mumbled an affirmative in the thickest accent Rey had ever heard, then waved them further into the orchard. Rose followed with wide eyes as Rey asked questions about the troubled birch.

“Have you had any issues with rot or fungus before?”

The caretaker, who told her to call him Chewie, shook his head and explained that while they had dealt with the usual blights here and there, he’d never seen anything like this. After trudging through the damp soil and leaves for a few minutes, he finally led them to a small clearing, where all three of them stared up at the towering birch before them.

“Hello handsome,” Rey whispered softly as she stepped forward, completely ignoring her companions.

Rose shrugged at Chewie with a smile. “Sorry about her. She… really likes trees.”

“How old is he?” Rey asked, gently stroking the bark and frowning at the dark mildew on the side.

He answered that no one was sure, but it had been around as long as the estate, so at least 150 years, possibly more.

Staring up at the large tree, with its looming branches and leafy canopy, Rey patted the trunk softly. “Fascinating.”

“Uh, Rey?”

“Hmm?”

“What kind of fascinating is this? Is it, say, an hour-long fascinating, or…”

Laughing, Rey unholstered her bag. “You go ahead and sight-see. Meet you back here around five?”

“You sure? I can call an Uber or something if you want to keep the car,” Rose offered, frowning at Chewbacca’s sudden bark of laughter.

“Trust me, no Uber is coming out here. You take the car.” Tossing her the keys, Rey unzipped her kit. “I’ll call you if I finish early.”

“Alright,” Rose conceded, and after Chewie gave Rey instructions to just head northwest through the fog to reach the estate, the groundskeeper led her petite friend back to their car. 

As odd as other people found it, Rey enjoyed spending time with trees. It was almost like they had their own language, with rustling leaves and creaking branches, and they had infinite patience. Circling the birch a few times, she took scrapings of the odd mildew and samples of healthy and rotting bark, frowning at the unfamiliar and frankly strange affliction. 

After a few hours, she decided to climb up into the wide boughs to see how far the disease had spread. There were plenty of easy to reach, wide branches, so she didn’t bother with her helmet or harness, instead simply enjoying the pleasure of climbing from limb to limb, the rough bark firm under her hands. About mid-way up the tree, she picked a path around the trunk, noting that the mildew seemed to be limited to the base.

“Strange,” she remarked, half to the tree, half to herself. “It looks pervasive, but only like it’s attacking your heart. Now why is that?” She asked a dark knot on the tree with a quirked eyebrow, as if expecting it to answer. What she did not expect was the knot to suddenly shift until two dark, honey-brown eyes were staring at her out of a moss-lined face.

Their gazes locked for a moment, and she had mostly convinced herself she was seeing things, until the face blinked curiously at her.

Letting out a short, surprised scream, Rey fell backwards out of the tree, her vision and shriek cut off as her world faded to black.

**Author's Note:**

> A few notes:
> 
> The Ghillie Dhu (pronounced 'gilly doo') is actually a very real and fascinating part of Scottish mythology!
> 
> 'Gloaming' is a Scottish word for 'twilight'.
> 
> Samhain is a Celtic harvest festival, and was believed to symbolize the weakening of the boundary between the world of the dead and the world of the living.


End file.
